How Does Shakespeare Make the Trial Scene Dramatic?

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In Shakespeare’s comedy called, The Merchant of Venice, two character of different religions clash. One of them is a man called Shylock, a Jewish money lender, and the other is called Antonio who is a Christian merchant. (In this essay I will also be referring to the recent film, starring Al Pacino as Shylock and Jeremy Irons as Antonio) There is a lot of hostility between the Christians and the Jews of Venice, and this of course fuels the hatred between Shylock and Antonio. So the reason for why, Antonio and Shylock have ended up in court as Antonio has failed to pay Shylock back the money he had owed him, as they had a bond which stated that if Antonio failed to pay Antonio back by the Jewish date, Shylock would be obliged to a pound of Antonio’s flesh closest to his heart. So why did Antonio need Shylocks money? He needed money for his best friend Bassanio, so he could go and marry Portia, in Belmont (a dream-like, female space, in which thoughts of love and marriage prevail), but is too confident as he quotes that he will get three times the amount stated in the bond. As Antonio takes the bond lightly, Bassanio is suspicious about the consequences from the start of the scene, as he says, I like not fair terms and a villain's mind. This sets the audience wondering about what its consequences might be. In the court room scene, traditionally the victim would be sat down but in the film we see that Antonio (the culprit) is seated whereas Shylock (the victim) is standing. This shows Anti-Semitism towards Shylock as the Duke, who is Christian, proclaims Antonio by his name, but calls Shylock “Jew”. By doing this the modern audience feel sorry for Shylock. During this scene tension mounts, as Shylock continues to demand for his pound of flesh and it seems that the laws of Venice will let him have his way. This reaches its height in the trial scene,
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